MMA and Hollywood have had a somewhat tortured relationship over the last few decades. While there have been a couple decent high points like Warrior and Redbelt, most of the time when MMA is appearing in a major motion picture, it’s gonna be a hot mess.
That probably extends to one of 2024’s most anticipated fight-adjacent cinematic projects as well, the long awaited remake of the Patrick Swayze classic Road House. Once anticipated as a potential Ronda Rousey vehicle (before her limitations as an onscreen talent became more apparent), the movie is set to star Jake Gyllenhaal as Elwood Dalton, an MMA fighter turned night club bouncer. Filmed in part during UFC 285, production problems have become a noted part of the movie’s upcoming release.
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel tried to save Road House producer
A few weeks ago, signs of problems behind the scenes became apparent with reports that star Jake Gyllenhaal and director Doug Liman had tried desperately to secure a theatrical release for the film with a a screening on Amazon owner Jeff Bezos’ yacht. That report came via Puck News and former Hollywood Reporter Matthew Belloni.
Despite the film’s apparent popularity with screening audiences (no word on what Bezos thought), it’s still geared for a prime exclusive release. A recent report from Variety, however, laid out more details on how the decision became so fraught.
According to Variety’s sources, early on in the project, director Liman and producer Joel Silver (who produced the Swayze original), as well as Gyllenhaal all signed off on the film as a streaming exclusive with the promise of an extra $25 million in the budget for passing on a theatrical release.
From the sound of things, however, it seems that was a deal quickly regretted. And while Gyllenhaal and Liman both campaigned to get the movie to the big screen, Silver especially became contentious with studio staff. So much so that Ari Emanuel tried to step in and save his job, despite few real connections to the project.
Silver continued to push for a theatrical release and grew so combative that the studio threatened to cut ties with him. That prompted Emanuel, CEO of WME parent Endeavor, to lobby on Silver’s behalf. Sources say Emanuel reached out to Salke and begged her not to fire the legendary producer. One source familiar with the back and forth described his pleas as “desperate.” Emanuel enlisted private investigator-turned-quasi consultant Anthony Pellicano in an effort to help Silver keep his job. (WME declined comment.)
“It made no sense why Ari cared,” says an insider. “WME doesn’t even rep Liman. CAA does.”
Despite Ari Emanuel’s attempts, Silver was removed from the project in 2023, and although the filmmakers continued their campaign without him, their pleas fell on deaf ears. Hopefully audience reactions are a better sign of the film’s merits than the studio infighting. The remake feels terribly unnecessary considering that the first one is already a timeless classic, but it’d be nice if it was at least a fun watch.
Rose Namajunas gets executive producer credit on ‘Strawweight’
Speaking of MMA themed movies, it looks like UFC fans will be getting a project sometime in the near future with more than just tenuous ties to the world’s largest MMA promotion. In this case, it’s a fight drama starring Chloe Grace Moretz of Kick Ass fame, alongside Black Panther’s Lupita Nyong’o. Variety reports that former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas has been tabbed as a “fight consultant” for the film and will get an ‘executive producer’ credit as well.
The film — being launched at the European Film Market by WME Independent and CAA Media Finance — follows the journeys of two fighters who find themselves competing against each other in the Octagon. One is a young woman (Moretz) whose life is changed forever when she discovers her passion for the UFC, while the other is a former champion (Nyong’o) who is determined to reclaim her title by reinventing herself. Both want the same thing — respect — but only one can come out on top.
The film will mark the feature directorial debut of James M. Johnston, who served as second unit director for the Green Knight.
The following piece first appeared on The Bloody Elbow Substack on Sunday, December 10, 2023. Subscribe for early access to more premium pieces and to support your favorite online karate magazine.
With TUF fading consistently into background static for fight fans around the world, Dana White has made Power Slap his personal passion. A sport of extreme violence, zero defense, and zero training required. It seems destined to create an endless cycle of almost entirely unknown participants knocking each other out in TikTok highlights.
It also seems like a guarantee that few will ever be able to be slap fighters for long enough to gain any kind of meaningful traction as a star of the ‘sport’ (for lack of a better term). Leaving nobody to collect checks outside of the people running the events. Is it any wonder White is so gung ho about the whole thing?
That shouldn’t mean, however, that the rest of the combat sports industry needs to greenlight this sad spectacle just because someone sees its potential to make easy cash.
Combat sports have to include risk mitigation
Fighting exists firmly in a rhetorical dichotomy through which fighters, fans, and pundits both celebrate its ultra violence and—in the same breath—defend it as being no more dangerous than any other contact sport.
Even if those dueling narratives seem a bit silly to outside observers there’s a real need for those ideas to exist in harmony. Fans and fighters should be able to defend the sanctioning of their sports with the idea that they can be practiced in some form of relative safety; that there is a defensive aspect to the game and that it requires technique and care and consideration. That combat sports are not literally just a brain damage showcase, there’s competitive nuance to it.
Slap fighting absolutely does not have that at all, and the fact that commissions are willing to let it move on through with hardly a sideways glance only makes much more obvious what their real functionality is within the regulatory ecosystem. Commissions exist to bring more money to the state, by making themselves an attractive place for promoters to put on events. Safety is a secondary (tertiary?) concern.
1) Like every other combat sport, it’s absolutely causing brain damage or people wouldn’t be getting KO’d.
2) It actively prevents defense against said brain damage.
Sanctioning a combat sport without an argument that participants can defend themselves from the damage they’re certain to take is a position bereft of caution in the face of profit. It is a giant red flag.
California seemed more primed than most to challenge slap fighting
I can’t say I’m shocked at the news, but I am surprised that California is one of the very first dominos to fall. Far from a state that pursues events with a blind eye to safety, the CSAC has often felt like a higher standard for regulation in the US. It’s one of the only commissions that still discloses fight purses, the only state that releases rehydration data and encourages fighters to cut less weight, and a state that is at least trying (if only questionably succeeding) to create pension funds for fighters to recoup some of the money that escaped them during their time in the ring & cage.
I’d have hoped that kind of history would put them far and away on the more cautious end of business. Made them at least wait and see how other smaller commissions reacted.
After all, it’s not even like the UFC runs a lot of events there—in part because of the transparency, high fees and taxes imposed by California governance. But, with a single UFC PPV event looming out on the horizon (and zero events held in the state in 2023) it looks a lot like the CSAC just rubber stamped this thing to keep Dana White & Co. happy.
A roadmap for more regulatory capture
It’s exactly the kind of regulatory capture that our own Zach Arnold warned of back in July; that the UFC would make their willingness to work with ACs dependent on greenlighting Power Slap. Given what we’ve just recently seen about the UFC’s negotiation tactics with their own fighters, it’s hard to think they’re not hardballing the commissions as well.
Dana White may like to trumpet that the UFC runs to regulation and not away from it, but if he’s running at regulators to make Power Slap happen it may just be with a hammer in his hand.
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The news has finally become official, MMA promotion Bellator has been bought out by the PFL. First teased all the way back in July, fans and pundits have been waiting for the other shoe to drop for months now. But with an announcement from PFL chairman Donn Davis, it appears all the ‘i’s have been dotted and the ‘t’s have been crossed.
Sources close to the deal have reported that the purchasing price for Bellator was somewhere in the $200-$300M range, with Davis himself explaining that the deal was a stock trade for his company, with the PFL acquiring majority ownership of Bellator in exchange for granting Paramount a minority stake in the PFL.
Current plans are to continue running Bellator shows at least through 2024, with a limited series of international events, featuring Bellator title fights and champion vs. champion bouts. After that, it sounds like the PFL plans to expand their roster and event run in 2025. Obviously pundits have been weighing in all across the board, but here’s what the fighters had to say about the big news:
Francis Ngannou and Jake Paul weigh in
Perhaps the biggest stars to give their take on the breaking news are a pair of PFL PPV stars: Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and celebrity boxing star Jake Paul. Ngannou didn’t offer much more than a post of his support for social media, but Paul recorded a short video message.
“Massive news! The PFL has acquired Bellator,” Paul announced. “This is insane news for the whole entire industry and makes PFL even more of a global powerhouse; with a fight roster now equal to that of the UFC’s. We have some challenges. Let’s prove it: Their champions vs. our champions. Let’s make it happen.”
This is a great day for all PFL and Bellator fighters and MMA fans. The stronger we get, the more opportunities there are for everyone. pic.twitter.com/uqIUW6XM6a
Congratulations on a game-changing announcement in the MMA space. The opportunities for PFL & Bellator athletes under this banner are endless pic.twitter.com/B8x4Rhb2Uz
Thank you @arielhelwani for pointing out the people who worked behind the scenes, the people who truly made @BellatorMMA a place where the fighters felt like they were part of a family. There are people who have been with Bellator since their first show in 2009. Those people have… https://t.co/oNfBPAR304
I’m looking forward to see how things will be handled and the matchups ahead between @BellatorMMA and @PFLMMA fighters. I hope PFL is smart and Mike Kogan and the staff comes along with the deal.
I’m curious about the future of the @BellatorMMA Bantamweight division and what’s next with @PFLMMA. The Bellator crew was great, I hope they and Mike kogan are still part of the promotion.
Excited for the future with @BellatorMMA and @PFLMMA ! Bellator gave me a home for so many years. I appreciate everything so far @ScottCoker and Mike Kogan. The future is bright💪🏼
It’s sad to see @BellatorMMA as we know it ending. Bellator is a big part of my story. I hope the future is bright and to see what @PFLMMA has in store for us, and that Mike Kogan and the team stay.
I’m excited for the future with co-operation of the PFL and Bellator! Super excited to work with m my brother @SugarRaySefo and @DonnDavisPFL ! I’m even more excited for the Bellator team to come over, my man @KoganMike was the one that found me and changed my life.
-Ariel also fantasy booked a Bellator invasion complete with branded t-shirts cageside for the PFL finals show this week, and Davis said he’d text and get on it.
A packed interview that I hope leads to a big change in the landscape of the fighting world!
It looks like the days of Modelo in the UFC have come to an end. Once the space of Mickey’s Malt Liquor, the UFC started their first partnership with Anheuser-Busch back in 2008, signaling an end to their time with Milwaukee’s favorite “fine malt liquor with a full body.”
After nearly more than a decade, however, the UFC and Bud Light parted ways, making room for Modelo to take the spot as official beer of the UFC. If fans felt that the beer “brewed for those with a fighting spirit,” was the kind of partnership that would run on forever, it only took what’s being hailed as “the biggest sponsorship deal in UFC history” to bring the Modelo era to a close.
UFC signs new $100M deal with Anheuser-Busch
Bud Light is back on the menu, boys. That’s following an announcement from the world’s largest MMA promotion, through their broadcast partner, ESPN. Sources close to the company told Yahoo Sports that the deal carries a value “in excess of $100 million,” making it the largest sponsorship deal in the promotion’s history
“Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light were UFC’s original beer sponsors more than fifteen years ago,” UFC CEO Dana White said in a statement. “I’m proud to announce we are back in business together. There are many reasons why I chose to go with Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light, most importantly because I feel we are very aligned when it comes to our core values and what the UFC brand stands for. I’m looking forward to all of the incredible things we will do in the years ahead.”
The multi-year partnership will reportedly include prominent branding for Bud Light not only on UFC events, but also on the Contender Series.
The decision to strike up a partnership with the UFC comes on the heels of a tumultuous couple years for Anheuser-Busch (AB InBev), most notably after experiencing a massive wave of reactionary backlash for their partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Mulvaney’s brief campaign in partnership with AB InBev public calls for a boycott of the company within conservative media circles. Bud Light sales reportedly fell by 26% following the outcry.
In response to the backlash, the beverage giant quickly distanced itself from Mulvaney, dropping their partnership and public support for the influencer. A move that inspired a whole new boycott movement from the LGBTQ+ community.
“For months now, I’ve been scared to leave my house,” Mulvaney told fans in a video posted to social media. “I have been ridiculed in public. I’ve been followed, and I have felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”
In a recent article for the Sports Business Journal, sports media & marketing consultant Tony Ponturo outlined why he felt that AB InBev had returned to the UFC with such a lucrative new partnership deal.
“They are trying to get traction with their core consumer and stabilize (share),” Ponturo explained. “They are losing shelf space, and this is an attempt to reclaim some of that. Back then, and now, this is a square shot at grabbing those 21-34 male drinkers.”
Dana White trying to keep UFC ‘anti-woke’
Despite a clear willingness to go wherever the wind blows them with celebrations of Black History, the LGBTQ+ community, and Mexican heritage, Dana White has crafted a vision of himself as a man whose ideology can’t be bought.
“We don’t do anything woke over here,” the UFC CEO told Fox News in an April 2023 interview.
Most recently the UFC boss tried to bring flags back to the Octagon as well, telling a group of reporters “Flags are back. If any flags hurt your feelings, too f—g bad.”
It only took another two weeks and a trip to Abu Dhabi for flags to be banned once again. Still, that kind of hardline rhetoric seems like exactly what Anheuser-Busch wants their Bud Light brand to cozy up to right now. Especially since, as it happens, AB InBev is responsible for distributing Modelo everywhere around the world except the US. It could be said that this new deal for the UFC amounts to little more than a label swap.
With the WWE valued at more than $9 billion, the move has given Endeavor serious market dominance in two of the world’s largest sports-event companies—with future plans to merge the UFC & WWE into one publicly traded organization. Well, the future is now.
WWE & UFC merger to start September 12th
Deadline reports that, following their purchase of the WWE back in April, Endeavor plans to move ahead with their stated goal of rolling their two sports-entertainment brands into one, starting this coming Tuesday, September 12th. Despite the merger and new TKO branding, expectations are that we’ll continue to see the WWE and UFC continue as separately run organizations, with Dana White retaining his role as UFC president and Ari Emanuel acting as CEO of TKO.
The merger also, initially, included plans to see Vince McMahon retain his position as chairman of the WWE, but his status is currently a little more murky. Back in July, McMahon was subject to a search warrant by federal agents, as part of an ongoing probe into allegations of funds misappropriation. McMahon has been accused of paying as much as $20 million to settle claims of sexual misconduct stretching back multiple years from multiple women.
“In 2022, WWE formed a special committee to review allegations of misconduct against me,” McMahon said in a statement in early August. “That review was concluded in November 2022 following an extensive investigation. Throughout this experience, I have always denied any intentional wrongdoing and continue to do so. I am confident that the government’s investigation will be resolved without any findings of wrongdoing. I am focused on completing the recovery process from my recent spinal surgery and on closing our transaction with Endeavor, which will create one of the preeminent global sports and entertainment brands.”
McMahon has been on indefinite medical leave following back surgery that took place in July. While the WWE has released statements to the effect that he will remain in his position as chairman of the promotion upon his return, the ongoing nature of the investigation has left his position in this merger unclear.
“This company has been on fire for the last seven years and now that we will be adding WWE to the portfolio, I am excited to take this to another level,” UFC president Dana White said of the merger back in April. “Vince is a savage in the wrestling space, Ari is a beast at what he does, and then add what we at UFC bring to the table and there is no limit to what this company can accomplish in the next few years.”
While it’s unclear what kind of crossover branding might result from the WWE & UFC running side by side under the TKO banner, for now it seems most likely that fans will continue to see both promotions running their business as usual.
UFC business a boon amid writer’s strike
With Endeavor’s WWE/UFC business deal coming to a close, it’s worth noting that the UFC has been a major boon to the company since it’s purchase, for $4 billion back in 2016. Most recently, Endeavor saw a net income of $666.5 million (Q2 2023). And while the Hollywood Reporter suggests that the company is likely to see some serious damage in Q3 due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA writers striker, their ‘unscripted content’ business has been a major strength.
Speaking to the Reporter, Ari Emanuel pinned much of the companies recent revenue gains on “the delivery of projects in Endeavor’s nonscripted content production business,” with a note that their ‘owned sports division’ saw a 2.5 percent revenue increase from 2022.
Jake Paul has crafted a career out of blurring the line between performative stunts and earnest endeavors. Along the way, however, the man who first rose to stardom as a social media prankster before a brief stint as a Disney actor has carved out a space in the combat sports world that shows no signs of going away—even as questions of his seriousness and integrity continue to dog him.
For those that thought Paul would be a flash in the pan, his dedication to boxing thus far seems largely earnest and lasting. The ‘Problem Child’ may not be any kind of elite talent (or facing any kind of elite talent), but he’s clearly training hard and getting better year after year. For all that, though, it’s still hard not to wonder if anything else Paul does can be taken at face value. The man built a fortune on being serially unserious, it’s hard to shake that kind of reputation.
Jake Paul still trying to make ‘near impossible’ fighter’s union
One of the biggest crusades that Jake Paul has attempted to lend his celebrity status to is the conversation around fighter pay in MMA. It’s a cause the 26-year-old was first drawn to as part of a feud with Dana White. A spat that, itself, evolved from Paul’s tendency to pick out washed former UFC stars to create showcase PPV boxing events for himself. What started out as an easy way to needle the UFC president has, seemingly, become a topic Paul actually cares about.
At the very least, Paul clearly cares about some segment of combat sports outside of his own success. He’s made a priority out of promoting unified featherweight champion Amanda Serrano’s boxing career. Setting her up for a massive superfight with Katie Taylor at Madison Square Garden. A major success that likely would not have happened without Paul’s continuous effort.
So, as difficult as it is to believe, it’s not entirely unreasonable to think that Paul might have some of that same drive for fixing MMA (and more pointedly UFC) fighter pay. If that’s the case, however, he’s set himself one hell of a task—as he’s very quickly finding out.
“We’ve been working nonstop on it behind the scenes,” Paul said of building a fighter’s union with Anderson Silva in a recent interview with MMA Mania. “It’s just … damn near impossible to figure this one out (laughs). It’s very difficult. Very, very difficult. We’re not shying away because of that, but it takes a lot of people, a lot of brains, a lot of money that we are funding, a lot of time, a lot of thought. So, really, we’ve been chugging along in this whole entire time behind the scenes and making slow progress more and more every single day.”
Not especially known for public disagreements with the UFC during his time in the promotion, Silva ended up roped into this project as the result of a bet with Paul; namely, if the ‘Spider’ couldn’t beat the social media influencer inside the ring he’d have to help him unionize fighters. Silva couldn’t beat Paul, so here he is—with several years worth of work ahead of him by the sound of it.
“This is a big three, four-year thing,” Paul continued in his interview with Mania. “It doesn’t happen overnight. We’ve been working and fingers crossed, man. I think it’s gonna be great for the combat sports world in general and sort of change the history of fighters being treated terribly and not having health insurance, being underpaid, the list goes on and on and on. Hopefully, that’s something we can fix in the next couple of years.”
Is it a fun, eye catching way to start a business partnership? Sure, totally. Is it a solid foundation for what could be a massively important labor movement? Well…
A fighter’s union is doomed to fail
As Paul himself noted, above, the task he’s set himself is nearly impossible. Considering how long he’s been talking up the idea, however, that shouldn’t have come as a surprise. There are multiple avenues that could be taken to potentially improve the financial future for athletes in the UFC (and, by proxy, in MMA in general). Unionization is probably the worst of them.
The first and easiest thing that should probably be at the forefront of any discussion over fighter rights and fighter pay is the Ali Act. Since the legislation already exists and has been put into action for decades in the boxing world, bringing it to MMA would be a case of a whole lot of lobbying and likely minimal adjustment. The Ali Act’s provisions about contract lengths, title sanctioning bodies, and the relationships between managers, promoters, rankings, and belts would be a huge shakeup to the industry that would see a massive increase in bargaining power for top drawing fighters when negotiating new contracts.
The second, and still fairly clear option available to Paul would be to enter the broader legal battle for clearly defined rights for independent contractors.
Industries like ride-sharing, food delivery, and other modern tech disruptions in the ‘gig economy’ have created huge gray areas in what it means to work as an independent contractor in the US, a status that the UFC has exploited for years, despite the exclusive nature of the deals their athletes agree to.
The reason independent contractor status is so important—and that the fighter’s union idea feels so seriously misplaced—is that independent contractors like UFC fighters don’t have the right to unionize. The best they could do would be to form a loose ‘association’, that would provide only the most bare bones structure for collective bargaining, and hold the UFC to no kind of legal obligation to either recognize the organization or work with its members. We already have the MMA Journalists Association for a look at just how much power that kind of thing holds.
Fighters are already pretty obviously wary about collective bargaining. Given their lack of power in negotiating with the UFC, it’s not hard to see why. Past attempts to create any group action among UFC talent yielded incredibly limited results and saw most invested parties either walk away from their efforts, or get released from the UFC altogether. If Paul is going to try and build an association of fighters in the UFC, while operating purely outside the promotion himself, it seems extremely unlikely he’ll find athletes lining up to join him for a fight he has no actual stake in winning.
Could Jake Paul take the UFC to court?
Setting lobbying and organizing efforts aside, if Paul wants to make more immediate impact without all the burden of running an union nobody wants to join—or without spending all his money trying to out-lobby the UFC in congress—it seems like there’s one other big option he could try to force change in the combat sports world. Jake Paul could try taking the UFC to court.
The UFC’s past attempts to enforce things like the ‘champions clause’ and other automatic extensions that leave fighters locked in seemingly near-permanent deals, have been a major cornerstone to legal arguments against them, and were notably absent in the deal Ngannou ended up with that allowed him to enter free agency while still holding UFC gold.
Obviously, Paul not being a UFC fighter, he doesn’t have a contract to challenge. But Conor McGregor’s boxing match with Floyd Mayweather opened up some fascinating circumstances. Notably that while the UFC initially balked at McGregor’s insistance on the boxing match, when McGregor became a licensed boxer, it seemed as though the UFC’s tune had to change.
If Paul were able to find a top UFC talent that wanted to enter a boxing bout with him, he could put his financial support behind the ensuing legal battle. The case the UFC would have to stop a licensed boxer from entering into an agreement for a boxing match, simply because of an existing MMA contract could be exactly the kind of stress test UFC contracts need. If Paul is serious about spending his time battling the promotion for fighters’ rights, a case like that might be the biggest impact he could ever hope to make.
He wouldn’t even have to look that far to find someone positioned to take just that risk. Jorge Masvidal recently revealed that he’d be very interested in taking a boxing bout sometime in the future, but his current UFC contract prevents it. With ‘Gamebred’ retired from MMA, he’s got less to lose than most in battling out the details with the UFC. It’d be the kind of fight that could inform other fighters just how far under the promotion’s thumb they really are.
Masvidal talks boxing interest with Jake Paul.
In the meantime, if Paul keeps up with the idea of a fighter’s union, then no doubt he’ll talk a big game. He may even seriously believe that the idea has a viable future. But more likely than anything, he’ll end up looking more like the un-serious clown people paint him as, and less like the serious fighter and businessman he’s trying to become.
With another event down in the great state of Georgia, fight fans are getting another peak behind the curtain for just how well the Professional Fighters League pays their athletes. The PFL made major headlines this year, both with their signing of former UFC champion Francis Ngannou to a multi-million dollar contract, and for their reported deal with social media influencer and celebrity boxing sensation Jake Paul. While Paul’s contract appears to be principally as a ‘brand ambassador’ for the promotion, there’s also apparently room for him to compete in MMA as well, should he wish to do so.
So while the PFL is splashing out big on celebrity attractions, what’s the rest of the promotion pulling down? At PFL 4 2023, two fighters took home $100k paydays. That seems to be the high water mark here as well, but with a few more athletes getting their hands on six-figure purses.
Aspen Ladd among 5 fighters to grab $100k purses at PFL 5
Unsurprising among the list of fighters drawing top money for the latest PFL event are former tournament champions Larissa Pacheco and Ante Delija. Both athletes have had long tenures under the promotion’s banner, with Pacheco making her PFL debut in 2019, in just her second fight after getting released from the UFC four years before.
Pacheco lost to Kayla Harrison twice that year, before rattling off a 5-fight unbeaten streak capped by a win over Harrison to claim the 2022 women’s lightweight title. Pacheco is 2-0 in 2023, with wins over Julia Budd and Amber Leibrock.
Delija first made his debut with the PFL back in 2019 as well, but didn’t become a steady part of the roster until 2021, after a failed bid to sign with the UFC. ‘Walking Trouble’ played runner up that year to Bruno Cappelozza in the heavyweight tournament finals, but went 4-0 in 2022 to win the crown the following year. His victory over Maurice Green at PFL 5 was his first bout of 2023, after a cancelled April booking against Yorgan De Castro.
The other fighters making solid ends at PFL 5 were Denis Goltsov, Aspen Ladd, and Julia Budd. While none of those fighters are yet to make it to a tournament Finals in any of the past four PFL seasons, it’s not terribly surprising that any of them would be on higher earning contracts. Budd entered the PFL just two fights removed from losing her Bellator women’s featherweight title to Cris Cyborg in 2020. While Goltsov first hit the PFL cage in 2019, as a former ACB champion. While he’s only lost twice with the promotion in 11 fights since being signed, visa issues have notably hampered his ability to compete stateside.
As for Aspen Ladd, she has no titles to her name as a pro-fighter, but she and Budd were both key signings by the PFL in hopes of keeping Kayla Harrison with the promotion for the foreseeable future. Ladd made her PFL debut in November of last year, defeating Julia Budd by split decision. She followed that win with a majority decision loss to Olena Kolesnyk at PFL 2 back in April.
Complete PFL 5 salaries
Here’s a look at the complete list of salaries for PFL 5, as disclosed by the Georgia State Athletic Commission (h/t MMA Fighting).
Note: As always, these payout numbers do not reflect any potential side letter agreements, locker room bonus, performance bonus, sponsorship deals, or other non-purse related income athletes may receive as part of their participation in PFL events. These numbers also do not include any fines, taxes, manager/coaching fees, or other witholdings that may be removed from a fighter’s income due to their participation in PFL events. These numbers are only the base fight purse information as relayed by the promotion to the state of Georgia.
One of the many serious problems swirling around in the mixed martial arts ecosystem is the tendency for promotions to lean on long-term, exclusive contract structures. Even outside the UFC, PFL, or Bellator, fighters often find themselves tied to regional promotions, sometimes for years, in exclusive rights deals. And if an athlete is competing with one of the big shows? As Manoel Sousa recently discovered, they’re pretty much guaranteed to be on lockdown.
A rising top prospect from Sao Paulo, the 26-year-old Sousa last competed in the PFL Challenger Series in February of 2023. The set of annual small-scale events, meant to find young talents to bring into the upcoming PFL ‘regular season’ bigger cards, ran eight shows in 2023, with Sousa competing on their ‘Week 4’ fight card.
Unfortunately for the Brazilian, however, despite winning (and taking his record to an unbeaten 10-0), PFL didn’t offer him an immediate spot on the roster for the 2023 season. Instead they offered him another Challenger Series fight on March 3rd, which he was unable to take due to COVID. At that point, Sousa assumed his business with the PFL was complete.
PFL stops Sousa from DWCS booking
Unsurprisingly to anyone that’s followed the MMA business for long, contracts in combat sports are rarely that simple. With the latest season of Dana White’s Contender Series approaching, and a strong record to his name, Sousa accepted a chance to compete for a potential future UFC deal. After all, the PFL had their look at him, and passed.
Booked to compete for DWCS on August 15th, that was when Sousa discovered that the PFL had actually retained their contract rights for his services as a “backup” fighter for their 2023 season, effectively icing him out of competition unless called upon to replace an injured or suspended competitor.
“They put me as a back-up, but that wasn’t my goal. I told them I would’t do it,” Sousa told MMA Fighting. “I train really hard every single day, I live in the gym, and I’m chasing my dreams. My dream is to fight in the UFC and the [DWCS] offer came, but [PFL] wants to keep me locked. I thought I was free to fight anywhere else, but that wasn’t the case. They don’t want to let me go.”
Fighting reports that the deal Sousa signed was not, in fact, for just one Challenger Series fight, but a 3-year contract to compete with the PFL. As such, the promotion informed the fighter that “they would not release ‘Manumito’ in any way since he’s a prospect of the sport and should be revealed only by PFL, the defendant, for mere commercial whim,” according to the lawsuit filed in Sao Paulo, and provided by Sousa’s lawyer to MMA Fighting.
The lawsuit also alleges that Sousa is functionally illiterate, even in his native Portuguese, and did not understand the original PFL contract he had signed, which was delivered in English.
No Ali Act for MMA
Cases like Sousa’s especially highlight the lack of legal protections that MMA fighters have in comparison to their boxing counterparts. Introduced in 1996, the Ali Act includes specific provisions that are meant to prevent exactly the kind of contract situation that Sousa has found himself in.
(A) A Contract provision shall be considered to be in restraint of trade, contrary to public policy, and unenforceable against any boxer to the extent that it—
is coercive provision described in subparagraph (B) and is for a period greater than 12 months; or
is a coercive provision described in subparagraph (B) and the other boxer under contract to the promoter came under that contract pursuant to a coercive provision described in subparagraph (B).
(B) A coercive provision described in this subparagraph is a contract provision that grants any rights between a boxer and a promoter, or between promoters with respect to a boxer, if the boxer is required to grant such rights, or a boxer’s promoter is required to grant such rights with respect to a boxer to another promoter, as a condition precedent to the boxer’s participation in a professional boxing match against another boxer who is under contract to the promoter.
At the very least, whether or not the courts would find any of PFL’s contract provisions coercive, there’s no way they could lock down his services for 3 years. In MMA, however, that kind of deal isn’t just possible, it’s more or less the standard.
Unfortunately, unless the PFL plans to wash their hands of the whole thing and release Sousa in a hurry, no matter the potential for success or failure of his legal actions, it seems likely he’ll be tied up with the courts for the immediate future.
While he did end up competing in the UFC, bantamweight Drako Rodriguez found himself in a similar position with the KOTC promotion back in 2019—when Rodriguez got an offer to compete for that year’s DWCS run, while still under contract. Trebilcock claimed that, while he mostly just wanted Rodriguez to fulfill the remaining four fights on his deal, he also didn’t feel the fighter was ready for a step up in competition and was being misled by his management.
“This kid has the potential to be a gold mine, but he’s not a gold mine at 22 years old,” Trebilcock explained at the time, noting that while Rodriguez’s boxing was great, “his jiu-jitsu is terrible.”
Rodriguez would only compete once more for KOTC before getting his shot on the Contender Series, submitting Mana Martinez with a Triangle Choke just 2:22 into the first round. Rodriguez went 0-2 in the Octagon, however, and was released shortly afterward.
Okay, yeah—sure, you got me. A lot of things could be funnier. But this is what we’re getting, so we better all start bracing ourselves now.
MMA has long been ripe turf for cinematic excellence, with such powerhouse films as Never Back Down, Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown, Never Back Down 3: No Surrender, Never Back Down 4: Revolt, and that all-time cinematic classic: Here Comes the Boom. Ready to add another piece of vital artistic expression to this pantheon of creative discourse is none other than comedy legend Adam Sandler.
Sure, a pedant might note that Sandler is more well known for that absolutely unending river of sub-par dreck he’s attached his name to over the years, than he is for those rare bright spots of wonderful acting he’s done that remind us how badly he really is phoning it in the rest of the time. Fortunately for those fearful that this will be one of the former and not one of the latter, he’s got a top-tier visionary in his corner to guide his hand. None other than UFC president Dana White.
Dana White announces new Adam Sandler produced UFC show
On a recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show, White delivered the big news. Not only is there a behind the scenes documentary about the UFC headed down the pipeline, but there’s a comedy TV show as well. Produced by Sandler’s Happy Madison company (who also handled production on Here Comes the Boom), the show will apparently give fans an amusing take on what it’s like to work in the UFC head office.
“It’s not easy to just whip out a documentary and do it,” White told McAfee (transcript via MMA Fighting). “But we’re doing a deal right now with Roku where we’re filming a documentary behind the scenes of the UFC, that will come out later this year. [It’s about] the whole business. You guys will see all the behind the scenes.”
“We’re working on that [documentary], we’re also working on a show right now with Adam Sandler that’s a comedy about working in the offices of the UFC.”
Dana White will never star in a documentary
With all the reality TV that White’s done over the years, and countless hours of ‘UFC Countdown’ shows and ‘The Thrill and the Agony’ mini-docs—’Lookin’ for a Fight’, ‘F-ck It Fridays‘, and so much more—it’s worth wondering if Dana White would ever take a break from his busy filming schedule to have a documentary made about himself.
The answer, apparently, is a resounding ‘No’.
“Never. Never,” White responded quickly when asked at a recent UFC presser when fans could expect his Netflix documentary, now that Conor McGregor has had his released. “I’m not into that kind of stuff. Believe me, I get offers for all kinds of books and this and that. I’m just not interested in that kind of stuff at all. Movie roles, none of that shit. This is what I like to do. I’ll literally never do any of that stuff.”
Sad news for fans looking for a behind the curtain peek of Dana White’s life. In the meantime they’ll just have to settle for the multiple hours he spends on camera each week. And, maybe at some point in the future, a humorous recreation of White’s working life, produced by Adam Sandler.
One of the world’s most notable celebrities has decided to hitch their wagon to one of the world’s largest talent agencies and now premiere host of sports entertainment properties. The Hollywood Reporter announced that The ‘Duchess of Sussex’ (gonna have to work on that nickname) Meghan Markle has joined forces with WME and will be repped by a team including none other than head honcho Ari Emanuel himself.
Originally hailing out of Los Angeles, CA, Meghan Markle started her training at Northwestern University (for acting and international studies), before eventually making the move to England to join the royal family via marriage to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. In 2020, the couple famously withdrew from royal life, moving to Montecito, CA, where they currently reside.
What could the future hold for Meghan Markle?
With her training and experience as an actress, one would have to assume that an arena like pro-wrestling would be the easy fit. Maybe Meghan Markle can get herself a tag team partner like Roman Reigns? Or Kofi Kingston? Obviously she’d be excellent for a Royal Rumble or two.
Interestingly, however, the Hollywood Reporter’s article states, and I quote, “…acting will not be a focus for Markle at this point in her life.”
Could that mean that Markle is getting ready for the Octagon? If pro-wrestling is just a stuntman soap opera, then everyone knows that MMA is as real as it gets. No acting in a steel cage!
If that’s the case though, then the 41-year-old is going to have to get on a serious bulking routine. A quick Google search suggests that the Duchess is currently running around at just 113 pounds out of camp! Two pounds below the strawweight limit. Maybe if the UFC ever gets their act together and delivers that atomweight division we can see Markle take on the likes of Loma Lookboonmee or Tabatha Ricci. Until then, she’s gotta look for those gainz.
Too far?
Realistically, this is probably just a move to help her manage potential film & TV projects in a production role, as well as, apparently, “brand partnerships”… whatever the hell that means. It’ll also serve as another reminder, no doubt, that Endeavor is absolutely capable of rolling out the red carpet for high profile clients, while still letting the UFC and the WWE keep their ‘independent contractors’ firmly under their thumb.
culturesink 